Title:Difficulty

Summery:Dreams can be more painful than one knows…

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, no matter how much I wish I did.

Author comments: the phrase "Must I only see you in my dreams?" comes to mind as I write this…wonder where I've heard it…

Story Starts

"Sasuke!" Naruto whined, tugging incessantly on the raven-headed Uchiha's sleeve. He pouted. "Come on, Sasu! You've been ignoring me all day! What's up? You mad or something?" he crossed his arms. "I thought it was just 'cause you didn't want to pay attention to me in front of Sakura and Kakashi-sensei, but something else is up. Tell me."

Sasuke stared at the whisker-faced boy. In his mind he was going crazy with how cute Naruto looked when he pouted like that, but he would never let the dope know he thought that. No, he was big tough Sasuke. He sighed and sat down on the ground, leaning against a tree. They were in the training grounds now.

Sasuke stared up at him. "Nothing's wrong, Naruto." He stated bitterly.

Naruto crouched down so they were eye-to-eye. His cerulean eyes narrowed. "You're lying. What do you take me for, an idiot?"

Sasuke smirked. "Is that one of those questions I'm not supposed to answer or are you just asking for it?" he laughed at Naruto's angry expression. He grabbed the back of Naruto's neck and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Nothing's wrong, Naru-chan. I've just been thinking."

Naruto let out a sigh of relief. He sat down between Sasuke's legs with his back against Sasuke's chest. He leaned his head on his shoulder and closed his eyes. "What were you thinking about, Sasu?"

Sasuke fiddled with Naruto's hair. "Not much…just deciding when to give you your gift."

Naruto opened an eye. "Gift? What gift?" he scooted away a bit so he could look at him. "Why'd you get me a gift?"

A slight blush creeped across Sasuke's face. He looked away and scratched the tip of his nose. "Uhh…well…you know…" he looked at Naruto, who still had an expectant look on his face. He groaned and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small orange pouch and tossed it to Naruto. "Happy anniversary, dope."

Naruto caught the pouch. He stared at it, then at Sasuke. "Anniversary? You mean…you actually remembered?" he grinned the grin that only Naruto could. "I was sure you would've forgotten."

Sasuke glared. "And why would I forget? It's only been a couple of months since we got together."

Naruto nodded and opened the pouch. He dumped its contents into his hand. A small silver chain with a matching ring on it fell out. He looked up at Sasuke. "A ring on a necklace?"

"It's a promise ring, you idiot." Sasuke blushed again. "Ring's really aren't a guy thing, so I put it on a necklace for you." He looked away. "It means…that we'll always be together. That we won't go out with anyone else."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I know what a promise ring is. I was just surprised, that's all." He stood up and extended his hand to Sasuke. "Come on, I left your gift at my house."

The two quickly made it to Naruto's house. Naruto swiftly unlocked the door. He waited for Sasuke to go in before closing it again. He went to his bedroom with Sasuke waiting impatiently in the living room. When Naruto came back he was hiding something behind his back.

"Now, close your eyes, Sasuke." Naruto ordered and Sasuke obliged.

Within minutes a wonderful scent filled his nose. He opened his eyes to see a beautiful bouquet of flowers in his face. It was a large array of roses, lilies, tulips, and baby breaths. A card was poking out of the flowers. Sasuke plucked it out and read it to himself.

Roses are red

Violets are blue

Ramen is tasty

I love you!

Love, Naruto

Sasuke stared at the card. Sure it was cheesy, but he liked it. A small smile played on his face. He grabbed the bouquet from Naruto and set it down on the couch before pulling Naruto into a kiss. The blond wrapped his arms around Sasuke's neck. They stood there for a bit, enjoying the moment. When they finally broke Naruto laid his head on Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke rubbed the back of Naruto's head. "You can't write poems worth anything." He teased lightly. "Hey, Naruto?"

"Hmm?"

Sasuke smiled. "I love you too."

"I know, Sasuke."

Sasuke slowly blinked open his eyes. He looked around. He was still tied to a chair in the interrogation room. He sighed. "It was only a dream…" he looked up at the ceiling. "Naruto…do you still know?"

The Monster Goes RAWR

Naruto angrily kicked a rock that was in his path. It had been about ten days since Sai had paralyzed him and Sasuke had been arrested. Since then he wasn't aloud to leave the village or anything. "God damn it!" he shouted, punching a wall. Cracks flowed from his fist. His shoulders shook slightly. "No…"

"Naruto? Is that you?" Iruka asked when he spotted him. He rushed over to him and touched his shoulder gently. "Naruto, are you okay?"

Tears leaked out of Naruto's eyes. He turned and buried his face in Iruka's shoulder. Sobs racked his body. "I…I lost him again! I thought maybe we could be together again and no one would have to know but…they took him from me!" he gripped Iruka. "I just wanted to be with him…was that so bad? Was I really so wrong?"

Iruka froze for a second before hugging his old student. He felt tears in his own eyes. He hated seeing Naruto like this. Naruto had always been like a son to him and he'd always felt that if the blond ever had a problem he could help. But this? How in the world was he supposed to make him feel better? "It's okay, Naruto. You weren't wrong at all. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be with the one you love."

Naruto clutched his former teacher tighter. "Why does everything have to be so damn difficult? Iruka…" he sniffled.

"I don't know, Naruto. The only thing we can do is hope." He tilted Naruto's face up and smiled softly at him. "Now, come on. Cheer up. Show me a smile and I'll treat you to ramen."

Naruto chuckled and smiled cheekily at him. "Eh, heh, heh, thanks, Iruka!" he and Iruka started towards Ichiruku. "Iruka, thanks for listening too."

Iruka ruffled his hair affectionately. "No problem."

The End

Kainichi: -collapses- Oh my god…it's four in the morning and I have to be up at ten…and what do I do instead of sleeping? I write this. So you guys better be damn happy.

Naruto: -hugs Kai- It's okay, Kai-chan! Don't lose your fighting spirit!

Sasuke: -nudges her with foot- She doesn't fight, you dope. She writes.

Naruto: Oh! –hugs her tighter- Don't lose your writing spirit!

Kainichi and Sasuke: idiot…

Kainichi: -waves- have a nice time, readers. I'm gonna get some sleep. I'll start on the next chapter later…ZzZzZz…